


Mixed signals, they're killing me

by jbhmalum



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: First Meetings, Getting Together, M/M, Mentions of alcohol, Misunderstandings, ace characters because we need more of that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:48:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25404106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jbhmalum/pseuds/jbhmalum
Summary: “Did you have fun with that guy you were stuck to all night?”Michael almost chokes on the toothpaste he accidently swallows. “Who?”Calum arches an eyebrow in amusement. “You know, long, blond, curly hair? I’m pretty sure he was wearing makeup, too. You left with him at, like, 2am.”“Oh,” he says, a goofy smile creeping up on his face. He rinses his mouth and turns to his best friend-slash-roommate. The room is spinning a bit less. “Well, we might have kissed after he brought me back here.”“Oh, you did?” Calum says with a smirk. “Did you ask for his number?”-prompt: "we were both kinda drunk and flirting after this party so i walked you back to your dorm and kissed you but now you won’t talk to me and i’m very confused about these mixed signals"
Relationships: Calum Hood/Ashton Irwin, Michael Clifford/Luke Hemmings
Comments: 4
Kudos: 66





	Mixed signals, they're killing me

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!
> 
> So I took this prompt from [this list](https://clumsyclifford.tumblr.com/post/617803017324036096/some-writing-prompts-from-stuff-thats-happened-to) on Bella's blog (hi Bella!), and decided it fit Muke, so I hope I did it justice!
> 
> Title from Mixed signals - Ruth B.

Michael wakes up with the worst hangover ever. His head is pounding like there’s no tomorrow and he honestly feels a little sick. He doesn’t remember drinking that much last night, but to be fair, he doesn’t remember much at all. He knows that Calum disappeared about thirty minutes into the party, probably to go flirt with Ashton, as always (they both know they like each other, Michael doesn’t understand why they don’t just get together already), and that he spent most of his time at the bar chatting up a few people without much conviction.

Michael usually doesn’t like parties that much, but Calum convinced him to to come to that one, making a great point that it was the beginning of the year and that it would be a good way to meet people. So he went, but left to his own devices he didn’t really know how to act and the few other students he talked to at the bar weren’t that interesting. It wasn’t even a real bar, since it was a house party, so Michael just ended up drinking so much that he kind of blacked out, and – okay, now he really feels sick just thinking about how much alcohol he consumed last night.

He gets up slowly and the room is spinning as he walks to the bathroom. Fuck, Michael doesn’t even like drinking, only does it when he feels out of place or miserable, and he always regrets it afterwards. He’s regretting it now as he empties his stomach in the toilet, and that’s how Calum finds him a few minutes later.

“Jesus, Mike, you’re a mess.”

“Thanks, appreciate the concern.”

“Well, I didn’t ask you to drink that much,” Calum retorts but he still helps him up and flushes the toilet, making a face.

Michael knows he’s right, so he just starts brushing his teeth as Calum hovers in the doorway, because he does care. Michael loves him.

“So, did you finally sleep with Ashton last night?”

“Did you have fun with that guy you were stuck to all night?”

Michael almost chokes on the toothpaste he accidently swallows. “Who?”

Calum arches an eyebrow in amusement. “You know, long, blond, curly hair? I’m pretty sure he was wearing makeup, too. You left with him at, like, 2am.”

“Oh. Oh!” Michael goes red in the face as it slowly comes back to him. How could he have forgotten _Luke?_ Luke with his pretty ocean blue eyes and his love for playing guitar (that’s why he clicked so fast with him. Luke made a comment about loving the riff on the song that was playing and Michael practically latched onto him, glad to talk to someone who liked the things he did). Luke who walked him to his dorm because Michael couldn’t walk straight on his own but probably mostly because they'd been flirting all night. Luke who let a drunken Michael kiss him sloppily in front of his door and who kissed him back before wishing him goodnight.

“Oh,” he says again, a goofy smile creeping up on his face. He rinses his mouth and turns to his best friend-slash-roommate. The room is spinning a bit less. “Well, we might have kissed after he brought me back here.”

“Oh, you did?” Calum says with a smirk. “Did you ask for his number?”

Michael’s face falls. Drunk him is not very smart and he kind of wants to die. Calum just thinks it’s the funniest thing in the world, and he taunts Michael about it as they eat breakfast.

(Michael forgives him because by the end of the day Calum has found out Luke is actually a friend of Ashton’s, so he knows he will see him soon enough.)

– 

It turns out Calum didn’t sleep with Ashton that night, but he did ask him on a date and Ashton said yes, obviously. So, by now they’ve been on a couple of them and here they are, a few days after the party and Michael and Calum are about to eat lunch with Ashton – Michael can’t wait to officially meet him, because he feels like he knows him but that’s only because Calum won’t shut up about him – and _Luke_. Michael hasn’t been able to stop thinking about him. He’s been keeping an eye out whenever he was at the cafeteria or at the library, but without success, so now he’s excited.

There was something going on between them that night, Michael could tell. He wishes he hadn’t been that drunk so he could have appreciated the other boy a bit more ( _and remembered to ask for his number_ , a voice that sounds suspiciously like Calum supplies in his head), but they still flirted for hours and then kissed. Michael is pretty sure there was a bit of tongue thrown in there as well. He can’t wait to kiss him again.

However, that is far from what happens when he and Calum approach Ashton and Luke’s table. They both look gorgeous, almost out of place in this rusty cafeteria. Ashton is even better looking up-close. His hazel eyes, smiling and full of life, contrast with his biceps and broad shoulders in an unexpected way, and Michael understands why Calum fell for him. Next to him, Luke looks even better than Michael remembers. He’s wearing less makeup than he was at the party, glitter eye shadow the only thing adorning his pretty but tired face, and his curls are a bit shorter than they were last time.

He’s not smiling the way Ashton is, though. Instead he’s looking at Michael with cold and guarded eyes for a moment before turning towards Ashton with a glare. Then, without a look at either of them he’s excusing himself and taking off, his meal untouched.

Michael is too dumbstruck to ask him what’s wrong or tell him to come back, and when he looks at Ashton and Calum, they look just as shocked as he is.

“What’s wrong with him?” Calum asks as he sits across his- are they boyfriends yet? Michael will have to ask him.

Ashton just shrugs. “I don’t know. He’s probably just in a bad mood.”

Michael takes that explanation and doesn’t question it, because he cannot consider anything else. He spends the whole meal watching Calum and Ashton make heart eyes at each other, not thinking about Luke leaving as soon as he saw him.

– 

But then it becomes a _thing_. Every time Luke sees Michael he finds excuses to leave, and if he can’t he just ignores him. And even though after that first day Luke doesn’t glare at Michael again and occasionally offers him a polite smile in passing, he still avoids him and Michael feels hurt, but mostly confused as hell. He doesn’t understand.

Luke had been all over him at the party, standing close to him and whispering in his ear when it got too loud around them, holding him upright with his arms around his waist on their way back to Michael’s dorm. Was he wasted as well? Does he regret it? Does he think Michael took advantage of him when he kissed him and now he doesn’t trust him?

He can’t be mad at Luke because now he’s pretty sure he did something wrong, and maybe Luke only realized it once he was sober, because as far as Michael can remember, they were both happy and smiling at each other after that kiss. That kiss which Michael can’t stop thinking about. He’s not usually that forward and bold, but to be fair he’s not usually that _drunk_ , either. Maybe that was the mistake. Maybe he did something awful he can’t even remember, but Luke _does_ , and that doesn’t sound good.

“Do you think I’m capable of doing something bad?” He asks Calum after almost two weeks of loathing, slumped on his bed.

“You do lots of bad things,” he replies dryly from the other bed, not looking up from where he’s probably sending stupidly cute messages to his boyfriend (yes, Michael asked). “You leave your dirty laundry all over the floor, you don’t always clean up after yourself, you-”

“Cal.”

He must sound desperate enough because his friend turns to him with a frown and puts down his phone.

“Did something happen?”

“Luke is still not talking to me,” he pouts, “I think maybe I did something while I was drunk and now he doesn’t want anything to do with me. What if it’s because I didn’t ask before kissing him, or something else I can’t remember? What if he just _regrets_ it?”

“Oh, Mike.” He sounds pitying and Michael doesn’t particularly like that, but Calum gets up from his bed and lays down next to him, so he doesn’t mention it. He can always tell when Michael’s in a self-deprecating mood and he always knows what to do to bring him up. And he knows Michael likes being close to him. “I don’t know what’s wrong with Luke, but I’m sure he’s just an idiot. Ashton says he hasn’t seen much of him in the past few days, so maybe he’s not feeling well or he’s just not ready for whatever it is he could have with you. Even if he does regret kissing you, it probably has nothing to do with you. Get this idea out of your head. You’re a good person, I’m sure you did nothing wrong.”

Michael sighs, because Calum is probably right, as always, and kisses his friend’s cheek. Calum makes a face but lets him cuddle close, and they fall asleep like that despite it being the middle of the day.

They get woken up when Ashton bursts into the room, uncharacteristically loud.

“Calum, I hope you’re ready, we don’t have time to- oh.”

They both startle awake, and thank god Ashton isn’t the jealous type, because any other guy would have started a fight with Michael for snuggling his boyfriend like that. But Ash is cool, and he likes Michael, and he knows the type of relationship Calum has with him.

Anyway, he came to pick Calum up for a date, because apparently time flies by when you’re napping and now it’s almost seven. He’s kind of annoyed Calum isn’t ready yet but he gets it when the dark haired boy explains what’s wrong.

“What do you mean, Luke? You guys hooked up?”

Michael is surprised but also glad Calum didn’t say anything about it to his boyfriend before. Although, it makes sense, because maybe Ashton wouldn’t have been surprised at Luke’s reaction every time Michael showed up if he’d known.

Michael shakes his head. “No, it’s not like that. Not really. We flirted the whole night at that party a couple weeks ago and then we kissed.” He bites his lips, feeling weird talking about this with Luke’s friend. “He’s been ignoring me since then, though.”

Ashton looks surprised. “Luke didn’t say anything to me, sorry. I thought he was acting weird, but I didn’t ask, cause I know it’s pointless with him. You should talk to him, though.”

After debating while Calum is getting ready about whether or not it’s a good idea, Ashton finally convinces Michael that it is, telling him he’ll knock some sense into Luke if he still doesn’t want to talk to him. He gives Michael the number to Luke’s dorm room, then the couple is out the door.

“If you decide to finally fuck don’t come back here to do it!” he screams, and his only response is two middle fingers.

– 

He has dinner by himself in the communal kitchen, then he goes back to his dorm and puts away stuff that’s been piling up on his side of the room (Calum is right, he never picks up after himself) while he tries to find the courage to go to Luke. Ashton assured him that Luke was a nice guy and would most likely be honest with him, but honesty is kind of what Michael is fearing. What if the reason he’s avoiding him is because Michael actually did something wrong, or if he thinks Michael isn’t as good looking in the daylight or something stupid like that? Michael knows it’s petty to care about that, but he really likes Luke and if he just isn’t attracted to Michael, then he doesn’t stand a chance. Although maybe that’s a better option than having done something he wouldn’t do sober.

After pondering over it for about forty five minutes, he decides, fuck it, and goes over to Luke’s dorm. It’s in the building next to his, and he gets drenched as he crosses the short distance between the two because _of course_ it’s pouring outside. He checks himself in the glass doors once he’s inside, and he curses the weather for ruining his hair. Now that it’s longer, it doesn’t do well with rain and humidity, and he doesn’t have a beanie to hide the disaster right now. Fuck, it’ll have to do.

He finds Luke’s dorm easily, and proceeds to spend about ten minutes standing in front of it, gathering the nerve to knock. He finally does, and the door opens to a pretty, makeup-free face.

“Did you forget your keys again or-” Luke stops in his tracks when he notices it’s not whoever he was expecting (his roommate, probably) and blushes, even though Michael didn’t say anything. “What do you want?”

He sounds more guarded than cold this time, and Michael tries to not take it personally because he did show up uninvited. “Can I talk to you?”

“About what?”

Michael sighs. “Please, can we not do this on your doorstep? We can go somewhere if you don’t want me to come in, but I’m warning you, it’s raining outside.”

It’s Luke’s turn to sigh, in defeat this time, and he opens the door then sits on his bed. Michael follows him hesitantly after closing the door, running a hand through his wet hair. Should he sit on the bed next to Luke? No that’s too weird. On his roommate’s bed? No, weirder. In the end he decides to sit on the chair by the desk, turning it so he can face Luke.

He looks… _vulnerable_ , is the only way to put it. His face is bare and he’s not wearing any of his fancy shirts, instead he’s lounging in a white hoodie and black skinny jeans, and he looks incredibly comfy, even though Michael can tell he’s not at ease. His socked feet are on the bed and he’s hugging his knees close to his chest, as if to protect himself from Michael or what he’s about to say.

“How are you?” He doesn’t want to beat around the bush but he didn’t think through what exactly he was gonna say. After all, he doesn’t _know_ Luke, which means he doesn’t really know how to approach him when he’s not drunk.

Luke just shrugs. “Good, I think.”

Great. This is gonna be harder than he thought. He looks around the room nervously, when his eyes spot the guitar against the far wall, and he remembers their shared love for music.

“Can I?” he asks, gesturing to the guitar, and Luke shrugs again but he’s looking at Michael with renewed interest, so he gets up and takes it from its place before standing back next to Luke. “Scoot over.”

Luke makes space for him, looking confused but apparently ready to indulge Michael, and Michael sits down.

“What’s your favorite song?”

“Me?”

“I don’t see anyone else in the room.”

“Oh. Hum, I guess I really like Weightless. By All Time Low.”

Michael shakes his head in disbelief, because _of course_ , he remembers Luke mentioning them now that he thinks about it. He starts playing the chords first, then starts singing, at ease now that he’s in his element, and he can see Luke trying to fight a smile. Michael makes sure to engage with him with smiles and side comments so that he loosens up a bit more, and in the end Luke joins him to sing the last chorus, then they sing another song together. And Luke sounds _good_. He’s mostly fucking around but Michael can just _tell_ that he’s a good singer, and that’s, like. Attractive.

They both let out a shy laugh as they finish singing, like high school kids on their first date. It feels good.

“I’m glad you didn’t lie about your guitar skills,” Luke mentions, and Michael frowns.

“Why would I have lied?” and that sobers Luke up because he stops laughing and blushes once more.

“To make me think we have something in common? To get me in bed.” He starts biting his nails and looks at Michael through his lashes, and Michael wants to enjoy the way he looks, all cute and flirty, even if that’s not intentional, but he’s too dumbstruck by the accusation.

“The hell?”, he breathes out, eyes and mouth wide open, “why would you think that? That’s…okay that kind of gets me to what I came here to talk about. Is that why you’ve been ignoring me? Because you thought I just wanted to get into your pants?” He’s raising his voice without meaning to, but he can’t help it. This is the first time someone has thought this of him.

Luke blushes, but this time he looks ashamed as he nods. “A girl in one of my classes told me on Monday after the party that you weren’t good news. That you were a player, or whatever, and just liked to have one night stands and then forget about them.” He even sounds ashamed, obviously not at ease with telling all of this to Michael.

“What? Who’s that girl?”

“Yeah, I think her name is Sara? I don’t know her last name. She told me you slept with her last year and then just, like, ignored her. That she gave you her number but you never called her.”

Michael’s eyes are open even wider, if that’s possible, and he doesn’t know what to say.

“Is that true?” Luke asks in a small voice, as if scared by Michael’s coming response.

And, okay he can see why Luke would believe this and be cautious, but at the same time, _what the fuck_?

He calms down a bit and puts the guitar on the other bed before turning to the other boy.

“ _Luke_. I know you don’t know me, but you have to believe me. This is absolutely not true. First of all, I would never lie to get something, much less someone, that’s just not cool.” Luke lets out a small smile at that, which is a relief. At least he seems like he’s willing to listen to Michael. “Second, I don’t even know a Sara, so I didn’t sleep with her. I don’t know what she has against me but I don’t know her, I swear.”

He knows a lot of guys don’t remember the name of their one night stands, but he hopes Luke will not think it’s a loophole. It’s _not_.

“And, more importantly...” 

Okay, that last one is always harder to admit, but he’s sure Luke won’t mind. He hopes he won’t, at least. He doesn’t seem like he would. He takes a deep breath and looks him in the eyes.

“I don’t, like, have sex. _Ever_. Like, I don’t even have sex with the people I date, let alone someone I barely even know. So, yeah. That was definitely not my goal to just sleep with you.”

Luke looks surprised for a moment, then he lets out a laugh and rubs his hands over his face.

“Oh, no. Oh my god, I’m so sorry I assumed. I, uh, I don’t really have sex, either. I mean, I do, but like. Not very often, so that’s why I didn’t really want to be near you because I thought you would try to sleep with me and nothing else. And I don’t do that.”

He’s still blushing as he finishes, but he looks more relaxed and he’s laughing like he was when they were singing together. Michael can’t believe this. Not only does Luke believe him, he’s also just like him – well, almost – and Michael could kiss him right now.

Instead, he asks, “what about now? Do you want to hang out with me now?” and Luke stretches his legs out and shifts closer to him, all smiles and guard undeniably down.

“Yes, please. I was very sad when I heard this about you, because I loved talking with you and I wanna get to know you better.” He bites his lips once, eyes sparkling. “Go on a date with me tomorrow night?”

“Absolutely.” Michael is sure his smile matches Luke’s with the way his cheeks are starting to hurt. They look at each other like idiots for what feels like hours, though it’s not awkward, Michael losing himself in Luke’s soulful eyes. Then Luke glances at Michael’s lips for a split second and shifts even closer to him, so that Michael can feel his breath on his face.

“I also really liked kissing you.”

“Yeah? Wanna do it again?”

Luke just nods and Michael doesn’t waste a second before leaning forward and catching his lips between his own the way he’s wanted to since that night. As Luke kisses him back, he feels butterflies in his belly and sparks fly between the two of them.

‘ _Oh_ ,’ he thinks to himself as he processes those feelings, ‘ _I think I just found my soulmate_.’

(It’s what he tells Calum when his best friend comes back to their dorm room in the morning, absolutely glowing himself. Maybe they both discovered something last night, and Michael couldn’t be happier for the two of them.)

**Author's Note:**

> Idk who Sara is but she's kind of a bitch, isn't she? Don't spread rumors, people!
> 
> I'm still new at writing, so I really appreciate feedback!
> 
> Come talk to me on tumblr [@jbhmalum](https://jbhmalum.tumblr.com/) we have fun over here!


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